Living an exceptional life is something that we're all are striving for. A life filled with the things that are important to us. A life filled with feelings of confidence, success and a general sense of self-assuredness. For me, exceptional living means living life in the present, learning from the past with a view to the future.

For some people, the past is like a ball and chain. It follows them wherever they go, stopping them from achieving goals in their life. It is restricting, heavy and extremely burdensome. Most people never break free from the shackles of their past and are therefore living a life of regret.

"How we spend our days is of course, how we spend our lives" - Annie Dillard

Letting go of your past and living in the moment is one of the steps that will take you towards exceptional living. I say this because the only thing that you can have an effect on is this moment and how you use it. This hour, this minute, this second.

Ask yourself this question:  How can I create the life that I truly want whilst I spend my time living in the past?

Over the next 5 newsletters you will find the steps that you can take to begin to let go of your past and live an exceptional life.

Step 1. Realize that it cannot be changed
The most sobering thing about the past is that it cannot be changed. Things have already happened. And seeing as there is no way to travel back in time, there is no way to change the past. At this point you must learn to accept it.

How would you go if you were driving your car and the only thing you looked at was the rear vision mirror? You didn't look out the front of the car, or to the sides. You simply fixed your sight firmly on what's happening behind you. You can liken that to what happens when we live in the past. We go through life looking backwards. Our vision becomes tunnel like and the only things that we can see is what happened back there.

If you live in the past and are having trouble letting go you need to realize that it cannot be changed. You can never go back to those times and you will never erase what happened. By living in this past moment you are preventing yourself from actually fixing what you did wrong.